Ben Affleck

Actor / Filmmaker

Born: 15 August 1972

Birthplace: Berkeley, California

Best known as:

The star and director of the Oscar-winning film Argo

Ben Affleck is a former Hollywood wunderkind who has evolved into a popular leading man and director. When he and his childhood friend Matt Damon were struggling actors from Boston, they wrote and then starred in the 1998 film Good Will Hunting. The film won them the Oscar for best original screenplay and catapulted both men to stardom. Ben Affleck had first appeared in independent films such as Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused (1993) and the Kevin Smith movies Mallrats (1995) and Chasing Amy (1997). As Good Will Hunting made its mark in Hollywood, he began playing square-jawed heroes in big-budget action movies like Armageddon (1998, with Bruce Willis), Pearl Harbor (2001, with Josh Hartnett) and Daredevil (2003, with his future wife Jennifer Garner). While building his career as a Hollywood star, Affleck maintained his connection to Smith and continued to appeared in several of his comedies, including Dogma (1999), Jersey Girl (2004) and Clerks II (2006). Affleck then made his directorial debut in 2007 with Gone Baby Gone. Ben Affleck's other movies as star include Paycheck (2003, based on a story by Philip K. Dick), Hollywoodland (2006, he played actor George Reeves), State of Play (2009, starring Russell Crowe) and The Company Men (2010, starring Tommy Lee Jones). As director, Affleck has also done The Town (2010, with Jon Hamm) and Argo (2012), which also starred Affleck and won that year's Oscar for best picture.

Extra credit:

Ben Affleck married the actress Jennifer Garner on 29 June 2005, and they have three children: Violet (b. 2005), Seraphina (b. 2009) and son Samuel (b. 2012). Affleck and Garner announced in 2015 (the day after their 10th anniversary, in fact) that they would divorce... Ben Affleck also starred in The Sum of All Fears, becoming the third star to play Tom Clancy hero Jack Ryan; the CIA superstud was played by Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin in previous films... Ben Affleck became engaged to singer and actress Jennifer Lopez in 2002. The couple were dubbed "Bennifer" by tabloids, but broke up in January 2004... Ben Affleck previously was known for his extended sometimes-romantic friendship with actress Gwyneth Paltrow... His brother Casey Affleck is also an actor and the star of the Ben-directed film Gone Baby Gone (2007)... In August of 2001, Ben Affleck announced he had checked himself into a Malibu alcohol rehabilitation clinic, where he joined comedian Paula Poundstone and actor Robert Downey, Jr.